Bieectiobt-ilirdicatoe



R. V; LEAF.

DIRECTION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 9. 1920.

4 H 2 w W L a m m w a 1 3 6 9, L 2 I a M M d m a m P n n R w. w s MW .3m

gar-15 U146 16 ROY V, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

DIRECTION-INDICATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented 113,1. 29, 1921.

Application filed September 9, 1920. Serial No. 409,165.

To all a ham it may concern zen of the United States of America,residing at Louisville, n the county of Jeflerson and State of Kentucky,have invented cer' tain new and useful Improvements inDirection-Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to signals and has special reference to a signalfor automobiles arranged to afford visual indication of the direction inwhich an automobile is about to turn and also to afford indication thatsuchvehicle is about to stop.

One important object of the invention is i to provide an improvedgeneral construction for devices of this character.

A second important object of the invention'is toprovide a simple andimproved form of lame support for devices of this character. I

A third important object ofthe invention is to. provide a lampsupport'and casing of improved character wherein the lamp sup porting fame, when surrounded by the casing, will divide the latter intocompartments so as to precluoe the light from a particular lamp enteringa compartment other tlian'the one whichit is desiredflto illuminate andthus prevent false or misuncerstood signals.

lVith the above and other objects in view, as will be hereinafterapparent, the invention consists in general of certain novel features ofconstruction and arrangements of details hereinafter fully described,illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specifically claimed. y Inthe accompanying drawings like charactors of reference indicate likeparts in the several views, and V Figure 1 is a perspective view of thecomplete device. I

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the lamp casing with the rear wall or closureremoved.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. at is a perspective view of the lamp supporting frame or bracketremoved from the casing.

In the embodiment of the invention here in illustrated it will be seenthat the device consists of two distinct but cooperating parts, viz.,the lamp casing and its contents and the circuit closer, theformer beinglo- Be'it known that I, For V. LEAF, a citi-' cated at the rear of theautomobile so that-it may be seen by a following vehicle and the latterbeing located preferably on the instrument board so that it may bemanipulated by the driver of the automobile.

The first part is preferably formed with a casing body 10 having front,top, bottom and end walls but open toward the rear, this rear openingbeing closed by a cover 11 held on the casing body 10 by screws '12,This casing body is secured to a bracket 13 provided with slots 1 1 sothat, by means of ordinary bolts andnuts the casing" may be mounted onthe usual license number bracket customarily provided on the rear ofautomobiles.

The lamp supporting bracket is formed from three strips of sheet metal,each strip eing as' wide as the casing is deep from front to rear. Theupper and lower strips are formed alike but reversely positioned. Eachof these strips consists of a straight body portion 15 having respectiveend por-" tions'16 and 17 bent at right angles to the body'portions,these right angular portions are bent upward in the case of the upperstrip and downward in the case of the lower strip, being such equal inlength to about one third the distance between the top and bottom wallsof the casing. Extending parallel to each'body portion from therespective end 16 is a terminal portion 18, this terminal portion withthe body portion added thereto being equal in length to the distancebetween the end walls of the casing. The terminal portions are securedrespectively to.

the top and bottom of the casing by bolts 19 and the portions 17 aresecured to one end wall by bolts 20. The casing is by this means dividedinto three compartments, a central compartment in the shape of theletter T with its stem horizontal, and upper and lower rectangularparallelopipedal compartments.

The central compartment is divided into two parts by the third strip or"metal which consists of a central portion 21 and end flanges 22 whichare secured by bolts to the body portions 15 oi the other strips.

On the portion 16 of the upper strip, the portion 21 of the middle stripand the por tion 17 of the bottom strip are fixed lamp sockets 24carrying lamps 25 and on the front wall is secured, in the head of theT- shaped compartment, a socket 26 carrying a lamp 527, a housing 28closed rearwardly with red glass 29 being provided onthe closure orcover 11 for a permanent rear light. Furthermore the closure is providedopposite the right hand portion or stem of the T-shaped compartment,with stencil like cut out letters 30 forming the word Stop while thereis also cut out of the casing, opposite the upper and lowercompartments, arrows 31, the upper arrow pointing to the left and thelower to the right as shown.

From the lamp sockets wires 32 lead through a conduit 38 to circuitcloser buttons marked respectively L, S and R to indicate left, stop andright, current being supplied to these wires from a connection (notshown) with the electric plant of the automobile. These buttons arepreferably mounted on a plate 35 which may be secured to an instrumentboard by screws 36 as desired.

In operating the device it is merely necessary, whenever the driver isabout to turn to either side or stop, to press the appropriate buttonwhereupon one of the compartments of the lamp casing will be illuminatedand the light will shine through the .proper opening in the cover, greenlights being 'usedfor the arrows and a red light for the stop indicationin order to better distinguish the same. v There has thus been provideda. simple and efficient device of the kind described and for the purposespecified.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the'form andconstruction of the invention without departing from the materialprinciples thereof. It is not therefore desired to confine the inventionto the exact form herein shown and described, but it is wished toinclude all such as properly come within the scope claimed. Forinstance, it will be noted that two lights may be provided ineachcompartment to more evenly distribute the lights and also thattransparent material, either colored or plain, such as, glass,isinglass, or the like may be used behind the openings.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

1. In a signal device, a lamp supporting frame consisting of'upper,lower and intermediate members formed each from a single strip of sheetmetal and all of uniform width throughout, the upper and lower membersbeing alike but invertedly positioned, said 'upper and lower memberseach consisting of a straight body portion, a portion bent at rightangles to the body por tion whereby to form a broad til-shaped structureand a terminal portion bent at right angles to one of the legs of the Uand away from the other leg, the legs of the U in the upper memberextending upward and in the lower member extending downward, saidintermediate ortion being also bent to form a U-shaped structure andhaving its respective legs secured to the respective body portions ofthe upper and lower members.

2. In a signal device, a lamp supporting frame consisting of upper,lower and intermediate members formed each from a single strip of sheetmetal and all of uniform width throughout, the upper and lower membersbeing alike but invertedly positioned, said upper and lower members eachconsisting of a straight body portion, a portion bent at right angles tothe body por tion whereby to form a broad U -shaped structure and aterminal portion bent at right angles to one of the legs of the U andaway from the other leg, the legs of the .3 in the upperinember'extending upward and in the lower member extending downward,said intermediate portion being aiso bent to form a U-shaped structureand having its respective legs secured to the respective body portionsof the upper and lower members, a casing surroundingsaid frame andfitting closely to the sides thereof whereby the frame divides theeasing into compartments, said casing having one wall provided withapertures affording signal indicia, and lamps each supported on avertical portion of a respective frame member.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ROY V. LEAF.

